Give 'Em Hell Kid
by NeverLetThemTakeYouAlive
Summary: Seventeen year old Cara is sent to live with her father after being expelled. But who is the mysterious man she calls her father? My Chemical Romance Fic!
1. Give 'Em Hell Kid

**Hello! So I've already posted this story on Ficwad under the pen name MichaimoNicola so I've decided to test it out here on FanFiction! I've set up a tumblr account for it, you can find it at giveemhellkidficwad(.)tumblr(.)com/ (just take out the brackets)**

Being rebellious isn't easy. There were times in my life where I just wanted to settle down and behave, but even that would get me in trouble, what with my reputation. So I just stuck with making the most of it. Of course, it resulted in me getting expelled from every school I attended.

The latest clincher? Smoking in health class. Yeah, ironic I know. I just didn't like the way Mr Krupp brainwashed all the other students into thinking that drinking and drugs were bad and you should never do them. I personally believe that everyone should live a little and not care about the consequences until they come.

I was already walking the plank, what with my piercings, coloured hair, excessive makeup and punk rock music. Private schools don't seem to take to any of these things very well. Let's just say I stood out in school photos.

Every time I got expelled from a school, my mother would send me to a counsellor to help me 'right my wrongs'. Everywhere I went, the counsellor decided that my rebellions stemmed from the absence of my father. It didn't bother me; I never met the guy so I didn't know what I was missing out on. He got my mother pregnant when they were both seventeen, before leaving her because he couldn't handle it.

I mainly blamed it on my mother for not letting me do things that I wanted to do. It mainly started over music concerts that she wouldn't let me go to. This one time I left a flyer for a My Chemical Romance concert on the kitchen counter with the dates closest to us circled in red pen. I even washed the dishes and vacuumed the whole house. And what did she do? She tore up the flyer, grounded me for a month and wouldn't let me go.

Most of the time with concerts it was just a simple no, but whenever it involved My Chemical Romance it also involved a lot of screaming matches and fighting.

My mother was now so sick of us having to continually move so I could go to a school where I hadn't been before. I kinda felt sorry for her, I'd now exhausted all the schools in travelling distance of where we were now and she'd just gotten settled into a good job that she loved and payed her well.

So when she got called into the principal's office, I could tell she was defeated. She didn't want to move again and quite frankly, neither did I. I was sick of school altogether and I would much prefer to just find a job and do that for the rest of my life, not having to worry about homework or 'fitting in' or anything like that.

I sat in the principal's office with my mother as we both listened to the principal drone on and on about school conduct and how I wasn't welcome here anymore. I just nodded over and over, bored with this shit already and wanting it to be over so I could leave already.

After I was dismissed and handed in my school forms that were to notify all my classes I had left, I headed out to the car with mom.

We drove off in silence, not even listening to the car radio. She suddenly piped up.

"Cara, I don't know what to do with you," she said simply.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, I don't want to move again, this is probably the best job I will ever come across," she said.

"We don't have to move, I can just stop going to school altogether and get a job. It'll be sweet," I said, liking how this conversation was coming across.

"I didn't mean that, there's no way in hell that you're getting a job and leaving school. You're going to go until you're finished your senior year."

I groaned. This was still at least a year away, depending on whether I'd have to repeat my junior year because I failed all my subjects.

"What I meant was that I'm sending you to live with your father until you finish high school. After that you can do as you please, but until then you're living under his rule. Understand?"

I couldn't believe her. She was going to make me live with a strange man that I'd never met before and make me abide by his rules? No fucking way.

"You've got to be joking," I stated.

"Not kidding, now get inside and pack your stuff up," she said as we pulled into the driveway.

It had always been me and my mom against the world, nothing stopping us as we travelled cross country to a new town and school, packing up within the next six months and heading off to a new town.

I stomped upstairs to my room that would soon be empty. Not that there was much inside it anyway. All I had was a wardrobe with my band tees and skinny jeans, a couple pairs of converse, my hoodies and my music. We'd moved so constantly that I never grew attached to anything that couldn't fit inside a suitcase. The only other thing that I lived for were my guitars.

I had an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar, the acoustic named Gertrude and the electric named Delilah. They were the weirdest names ever but they stuck.

I packed my clothes and my music back into my suitcase and strapped my guitars back into their cases. I removed my posters from my wall and carefully rolled them up, putting them on the top of my suitcase as not to get crushed.

When I went downstairs my mother had just gotten off the phone and was writing something down on a piece of paper.

"Okay Cara, here are your flight details. One last thing before you leave, would you like your birthday money?" she asked me.

Every year on my birthday and at Christmas, my father would send me a card with money inside it. I never opened them; I just knew there was money inside them because I could hear it shaking around inside the card. This was the reason why I never opened them, I didn't want his pity money, I didn't want anything to do with him. Some years I could hear more rattling around on the inside, but I still resisted the temptation.

I shrugged my shoulders and my mother went upstairs and returned with a plastic bag full of the white envelopes I'd rejected over the years. I stuffed them into my backpack that was tossed on the couch and returned upstairs for the rest of my belongings.

I strapped my guitar cases together so I'd be charged less for baggage and I picked up my suitcase, closing the door on the empty room behind me.

I loaded my bags into mom's car and we headed off to the airport. I almost gagged when I read where I was going. New Jersey. Ew.

We arrived at the airport and I checked in, receiving my ticket. Mom walked with me to the security checkpoint, where we had to part ways.

She hugged me tight and I returned the hug, feeling tears come to my eyes. This was the first time I'd ever live with anyone apart from my mom. And I'll admit, I'd miss her a lot.

We released each other and said our goodbyes before I turned and walked towards the security gate, where they scanned my backpack and let me roam off into the land of duty free purchases.

I decided I should buy something for my father and his wife, as mom had informed me. I had no idea what they liked so I just bought them both chocolates and hoped to god they weren't weird, strict no-sugar, no-fat, no-fun people. I bought myself a large bag of skittles while I was there, I'd need something other than plane food to tide me over until I landed in New Jersey.

Once my flight number was called, I picked up my bag and headed towards my gate. I boarded the plane and settled myself into my seat with my earphones in, blasting MCR until my ears felt like they were going to bleed.

I ate my skittles within an hour of taking off, so I was on the biggest sugar high for the entire trip, practically bouncing in my seat and going to the bathroom several times just to release some energy.

About an hour before we landed, I went to the bathroom to check my makeup and sneakily turned my phone on in there.

I had a text message from an unknown number, saying that he couldn't be there to pick me up, but his wife would be. It was signed with 'dad'. I scoffed at the term and at his slackness, turning my phone back off. Of course he wouldn't be there; he hasn't been for the last seventeen years.

I returned to my seat, beginning to feel my sugar rush wear off and lethargy set in. It still hadn't fully worn off by the time I landed and I still had adrenaline running through my system as I collected my bags and guitars from baggage. Maybe it was the skittles, but maybe it was also the fact that I was finally meeting my dad and living with him for a long time. It made me excited and also nervous.

I walked out to the lounge, where there were many people with signs standing around. I stopped and looked around for one with my name. I had no idea who I was supposed to be looking for.

As I scanned the area, one lady was jumping up and down with a piece of paper in her hand. She was slightly shorter than the others, so she was waving around, trying to catch someone's attention. The people around her were looking at her weirdly. I felt pity for whoever she was meant to be picking up. That was until I looked closely at the sign. _Cara Hanson._ Shit. Crazy lady was my step-mom.

I started walking towards her and once I was close enough she dropped the sign and ran to pull me into a hug. I hugged her back awkwardly, unsure of what to do.

"You must be Cara! I'm Lindsey, your dad's wife. But please don't call me your step-mom, just call me Linds," she said with a huge smile on her face. I couldn't help but smile in return, she was contagious.

"Here, I bought you guys a present for taking me in," I said, handing her the two boxes of chocolates I bought from the airport.

"Thank you, sweetie, you didn't have to," she said, accepting the chocolates.

She lead me out to where a black SUV was parked and helped me put my suitcase and guitars in the back seat as I sat in the front seat with my backpack and Lindsey.

We didn't make much conversation as we drove, until I remembered the envelopes that should have been opened long before now.

I pulled the first one of the bag, dated at my first Christmas.

"Let's see what daddy sent me," I said to myself. I opened it and found a $20 note inside Christmas card. I kept opening cards up and the amount slowly increased until I got to my thirteenth birthday. Inside it was $100 and two tickets to My Chemical Romance.

"Damnit, I wish I'd opened this before," I said, whining at my regret. Lindsey chuckled.

"You a fan?" she asked me.

"Who isn't?" I replied as I opened the next card, finding another $100 in there. When I got to the last card, I could feel there was more than money and concert tickets in there.

I opened it to find $200, two tickets to My Chemical Romance's World Contamination Tour and a plane ticket for New Jersey. I felt the tears start up again in my eyes.

"He really wanted to see you, but his job wouldn't let him take time off to see you, so he hoped that you'd come see him. He showed up at the airport the day that flight was supposed to come in, it broke his heart when your mother told him that you hadn't opened the envelope."

I felt horrible for hurting him like this. It was the first time I'd ever felt feeling towards someone other than my mom or myself. I felt like crying, I felt that bad.

We pulled up at my new home and I could feel the lethargy from my sugar rush starting to set in. I shoved the plastic bag back in my backpack and wearily dragged myself out of the car while Lindsey grabbed my suitcase and my guitars.

She opened the door and I walked in, feeling comfortable in this house. It wasn't all polished floors and marble tables, the floor had a soft, worn carpet and there were large scratches on the wooden benches. It felt… cosy.

"Would you like anything to eat? Something to drink?" Lindsey asked me, smiling at me. I shook my head and smiled back at her.

"No thanks, I'm just really tired right now," I said, a yawn reinstating the truth.

"Of course! The different time zone will throw you around a little. Your room isn't quite ready yet, so I can set you up on the couch for the time being. Your dad will be home later on to finish it off," she beamed again as I yawned, feeling my eyelids begin to droop.

I lay down on the comfy suede couch, probably the most expensive piece of furniture in the entire house, as Lindsey propped a pillow under my head and covered me with a soft, woollen blanket. It had started raining softly, the quiet pattering on the roof lulling me to sleep.

When I woke up I could hear a slight clattering in the kitchen as well as in a room further away. The TV set in front of me had been turned on, a re-run of 'Friends' was showing. I watched it for five minutes until Lindsey came into the room again.

"Oh good, you're awake! Your father came home around an hour after you fell asleep. Your room is almost ready for you to move into," she said, coming to sit at the end of the couch next to my feet. She gently stroked my hair out of my face as I checked the clock above the TV. My plane landed at 2:15 and the time was now 6:30. I'd been asleep for around four hours, a new record for me.

A small figure with black hair bounded into the kitchen from behind me and bounded out as quick as he came. Lindsey rolled her eyes.

"No running inside, Frank," she scolded him.

"Sorry Linds!" he called out.

She chuckled and stood up again.

"Come on, I'm making dinner, you can help me," she said, pulling me to my feet. After I stood up I ran my fingers through my hair, combing the lilac knots out.

When I got into the kitchen there were ingredients for fettuccine Bolognese all over the counter.

"You can start by cutting up the tomatoes into small chunks, then you can start cooking the meat," she said, putting the fettuccine into a saucepan of water and started cutting the onions.

There was an entire bag of tomatoes to cut, so I guessed I'd be here for a while. While we cooked, Lindsey told me more about my dad and I told her of all the reasons I'd been expelled from schools. I told her more about my mom, the places we lived and the things I did in my spare time.

I was almost finished cutting the bag of tomatoes when Lindsey's smile grew wider and she walked to the door, hugging whoever was standing there which was most likely my father. I looked away, not wanting to intrude on their moment and also because I was nervous about meeting my father finally.

"Cara, there's someone you should meet," Lindsey said, coming over to me excitedly.

"Gerard, I'd like to introduce you to your daughter, Cara," she said and I turned to face my dad with a smile, the smile dropping clean off my face I saw who was standing in the kitchen.

Gerard Way was my father. The man I thought I'd despise was one of my biggest idols. The lead singer of My Chemical Romance was related to me by blood.

I dropped the knife I was holding in shock, unfortunately right onto my spare hand. I yelped as it made a shallow slice in my hand, the red blood beginning to ooze out of it already. I hissed at the stinging sensation. It wasn't my worst injury, but fuck it hurt.

Lindsey rushed to me and picked up my hand, leading me to the sink and washing it off under cold water.

"MOTHER FUCKING SON OF A BITCH," I screamed as it stung more than before. I could feel my hand throbbing.

Gerard stifled a laugh as Lindsey tutted me humorously.

"You are your father's daughter all over," she said, looking back up at him with a smirk. I looked up at him to see him staring at her with his mouth open.

"Hey, I don't fuckin' swear much," he said as Lindsey and I cracked up laughing at his contradiction.

He came over closer to me and lifted my chin up with his hand. I looked into his hazel eyes that mirrored my own.

"God, you look so much like your mother," he said wistfully.

"But she's got your eyes and cheekbones," Lindsey interrupted. He smiled again then pulled me into a hug. I hugged him back, the hug not being awkward like my first one with Lindsey was.

"I'm so glad you're here," he said, kissing the top of my hair.

I pulled back, looking down at my hand that was bleeding again.

"Ah, shit," I muttered. Gerard took my good hand.

"Come sit down while I get something to patch you up with," he said.

"You've been a great help, thank you Cara," Lindsey dismissed me.

Gerard led me to the couch I'd been sleeping on, disappearing to find me a bandage.

I had only been sitting there for a minute when the small dark-haired person from before flopped themselves down on the armchair next to me. He turned to face me and smiled a cheeky smile.

"Hey, I'm Frank," he introduced himself. Of course I knew that, Frank Iero from My Chemical Romance.

"Hi, I'm Cara," I said, shaking his outstretched hand with my non-injured one.

Gerard returned with a bottle of antiseptic and some gauze.

"Okay, let's have a look at your hand," he said, sitting down on the couch next to me. He swiped some of the antiseptic onto my hand with a cotton ball, making me curse loudly again, before he placed the gauze over top of my cut.

"There we go," he said as he released my hand.

"Thanks…" I trailed off, unsure whether to call him dad or Gerard.

"I don't mind whether you call me dad or not, it'll take some getting used to," he said.

"Okay, Gerard," I said, still not being able to come to terms with calling him 'dad'. His face fell slightly as I forwent the more affectionate term.

My phone started trilling loudly with the tone of 'Give 'Em Hell Kid' coming loudly from the speakers, signalling my mother was calling me. I always found the tone was appropriate for our relationship.

"Hello, mother," I sighed into the phone, rolling my eyes at her, earning a chuckle from Gerard and Frank.

"Hey darling, how are you going? How was the flight? How is your dad?" she asked all at once.

"Mom, calm down. I'm fine, I ate an entire bag of skittles within the first hour of the flight so I was on a sugar high the entire time, and Gerard and Lindsey are great," I said, fitting as much in with as little info as I could.

"That's good, be safe and please try to keep out of trouble, for your father's sake," she said, exasperated.

I rolled my eyes at her again. "Mom, since when have you known me to misbehave? I'm a perfect little angel high up on a pedestal and all that shit," I said sarcastically, causing Frank and Gerard to snicker at me.

"Don't get smart with me. Alright, I'll leave you to your father now, I'll talk to you later sweetie," she said.

"Alright, bye mom. Love you," I tacked on at the end. We both hung up and I felt a pang of sadness as realisation sunk in that I wouldn't be seeing her tonight, tomorrow when I woke up or the next day.

"Vivianne was always a worrier when I knew her, I guess that part hasn't changed," Gerard mused. I snorted in laughter.

"Yeah, but I give her a reason to worry. Do you know how many schools I've been expelled from since I was thirteen? I can't count on my fingers and toes how many schools I've been to. Believe me, I know how to make her worry," I argued.

Gerard propped his face up under his fist. "Tell me, Cara, what have you been expelled for?"

I sigh and wrack my brain, trying to remember all my achievements. "My first one was lighting a bin on fire when I was in the eighth grade. Since then I've been drunk at school, vandalised school property, beat kids up, beat teachers up and sworn at teachers. This one time I brought a butter knife to school to cut up an apple, don't know what went on with that one," I said, making Gerard and Frank laugh, "I was once accused of sleeping with a teacher and they expelled me without questioning, which I didn't do because even I have standards, and the latest one was smoking in health class. Kinda ironic, huh?" I said with a chuckle at the end.

Frank laughed and shook his head. "Have fun with that one Gee."

"Now tell me, Cara, why did you do those things? That's some pretty drastic stuff there," Gerard said, actually interested in what I was saying.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I dunno. I didn't like my schools. I never fit in."

"Why didn't you fit in? Surely there's a group for everyone at every school," he said, shocked.

"I went to private schools and a couple of boarding schools, they kinda stick to the one group of pretentious assholes," I said. Gerard looking understanding.

"I think we just found your problem. I'm sending you to a public school. They're full of swearing, smoking, delinquents like you," he said, using delinquents as an endearing term.

"Why papa, that would make me most happy," I said sarcastically in a fake English accent.

Lindsey came out from the kitchen at that moment. "Dinner's ready you guys."

We all headed out to the dining room where Lindsey was setting out the fettuccine Bolognese, or in Frank's case, fettuccine with sauce.

I started twirling the fettuccine around my fork, not feeling overly hungry but also not wanting to offend Lindsey by not eating it. I nibbled at a bit of the meat, it actually tasted pretty good.

We made small talk, Gerard and Frank discussing their day while Lindsey interjected with questions.

Before I knew it, I had eaten the entire plate of fettuccine. Lindsey smiled at me, obviously pleased that I liked her cooking.

We put our plates in the dishwasher and went to the living room.

"I think I'm gonna go take a shower, if that's okay," I said, picking up my bags that were still sitting near the couch.

Gerard jumped up. "Here, I'll show you your room so you can settle in."

I grabbed my backpack while he took my suitcase and guitars, leading me down the hallway to a room with a black door.

He opened the door and I walked in to find the most perfect room ever. The walls were blood red with a black ceiling and black carpet, a black metal bedframe with a deep red cover on top, a black desk with a Macbook Pro sitting on it and a shiny black dresser.

He put my suitcase next to my bed and my guitars on top, leaving me to stare in awe at my bedroom.

I dumped my backpack on my bed and ran my fingers over the smooth desktop and opened up the shiny black cupboard, several black coat hangers already sitting inside.

I opened up my suitcase and located my pyjamas and my toiletries, heading down the hallway to the bathroom.

I showered and washed my hair, leaving it to drip dry when I got out of the shower. Once I was satisfied with the placing of my toiletries, between Lindsey's weird pills and Gerard's hair dye, I headed back out to the living room.

I had almost reached the room when I heard hushed voices. I fell behind so I could listen in without being caught.

"- she's never had a father figure in her life before, the closest she's come to is money in a card on special occasions. She'll warm up to you, it'll just take a little time," Lindsey consoled Gerard.

"I just feel like I've failed as a father. She can't even call me dad, I feel like I've missed out on so many things in her life," he said, sounding like he was on the verge of tears.

"That's why she's here, so you can make up on those lost years and get to know her before she ventures out on her own. You need to make the most of your time with her," Lindsey said soothingly.

"Yeah, and besides, all those things you missed out on with Cara? You'll be experiencing them all again next year and for the next sixteen years after that," Frank interjected brightly.

"Yeah, I guess, it'll still feel different because I'll have a grown up child and a baby, and still not know what I'm supposed to do with the baby," Gerard said doubtfully.

Wait, what? Who was having a baby? Surely…

I decided that was the moment I would interrupt their conversation and brighten up their world.

I walked in and sat down on the couch next to Gerard, trying my hardest to treat him as if he were my father and not just the singer of my favourite band.

"Hey, what's up?" Gerard smiled at me, draping his arm over my shoulders. I moved in closer to his side, tucking my feet up underneath my body.

"Nothing much, just thought I'd come spend some time with you guys," I smiled back.

"Well that's good, because we're gonna be spending the whole day together tomorrow. I'm going to show you around town and then take you into rehearsal tomorrow, how does that sound?" Gerard said, still beaming at my affection.

"Yeah, that sounds great," I said, finally feeling happy.

Gerard pulled me in closer to him and we sat in that position, all four of us talking happily, for a long time.


	2. Meet The Family

I woke up the next morning to the smell of strong coffee and pancakes. I loved coffee and drank it every day, much to my mother's distaste.

I wandered downstairs to find Gerard sipping at a cup while Lindsey was standing at the kitchen counter flipping a pancake onto a plate.

They both looked up and smiled when they saw me.

"Morning Cara, how was your sleep?" Gerard asked, pulling me into a one-armed hug. I returned the hug while sneakily stealing a sip of his coffee.

"Sleep was good, but your coffee isn't strong enough for my liking," I said, pulling away and making myself a cup.

"What? How is my coffee not strong enough? I almost choked on it, and I love coffee!" Gerard exclaimed.

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm used to stronger. My mom doesn't drink coffee so I can make it how I like without worrying about using it all up," I said, spooning more coffee into my cup.

"You're definitely my child, no-one apart from me can stand strong coffee," Gerard chuckled, taking another sip of his coffee.

Lindsey pushed the fresh pancake towards me. "Here, eat it before it gets cold, we've already eaten ours."

I accepted the pancake and drowned it in maple syrup, devouring it within a minute. I rinsed my syrup coated plate off with hot water and put it in the dishwasher.

I drank my coffee silently, relishing the feel of it going down the back of my throat.

"Oh! I almost forgot, your mom called while you were sleeping this morning. She was just checking up on you and said for me to tell you that you got a visitor after you left. Someone by the name of Alex?" Gerard said.

I almost spit out my coffee. I'd met Alex around a year ago at one of my schools. He was like me, with piercings, coloured hair and causing trouble, except for the fact that he never caused enough trouble to get expelled. We were like two peas in a pod and it was legitimately the only school I was sad to leave, purely because I'd never see Alex again.

"Did she say anything else about him?" I asked curiously.

"She said that you should call him. It sounded kind of urgent," he replied.

I gulped down the rest of my coffee and ran upstairs to find my phone. Once I located it I scrolled through my contacts to find Alex's number and hit call.

It rang a couple of times before the familiar husky voice came through the receiver.

"_Hello?"_

I smiled at his voice. "Hey Alex! It's Cara."

"_Oh hey Cara! I guess your mom passed on the message that I dropped by yours yesterday, huh?"_

"Yeah, I'm living in New Jersey with my dad now. Doesn't suck as much as I thought it would though," I answered truthfully.

Alex was the only person who I could confide in to the whole absent father issue. He was present on my birthday when I received an envelope that I proceeded to stash away and he had the same issue except with his mom. She left him with his father when he was only a baby and was now a dealer and prostitute in some city. He hoped to never see her again.

"_Really? He must be a pretty decent guy for you to be able to stand him," _Alex said, his voice sounding tinny through my phone.

"Yeah, he's actually really cool and nice and shit. So tell me, why were you at my old house yesterday when you clearly don't live in that state?" I asked him, getting to the root of the conversation.

"_Oh, uh, I was going to ask you something but I'll wait until I see you again to ask it,"_ Alex said, kind of avoiding the reason.

"Okay, well I'd better go then, I have a pretty big day ahead of me," I said, slightly disappointed.

"_Okay, talk to you later Cara, I miss you,"_ Alex said.

All I could manage was a "Bye." I hung up and threw my phone on the bed, angry for some reason. The phone call had just created a bad mood and for some reason it was escalating. I changed into a pair of stonewash skinny jeans and a plain black t-shirt with one of my hoodies over top. I slipped my feet into my navy converse low tops and stormed downstairs.

"What's wrong?" Lindsey asked me as I stormed past her, nearly knocking her over.

"I need to vent. I need to throw something or hit something," I said, unable to say more than that. The energy inside me was building up and it needed to be released before I hurt someone.

"Okay, well there's a carton of eggs in the fridge and a punching bag in the garage. Just don't hurt yourself," Lindsey pleaded.

I raced back upstairs and grabbed my iPod and dock and detoured through the kitchen for the eggs. I headed into the garage and plugged my dock in, turning it up loud.

I picked up the first egg and with all my might threw it at the brick wall where it shattered and slid down the wall. I picked up another one and aimed it at the same spot; the noise it made was satisfying.

I saved the rest of the eggs and punched the punching bag until I was out of energy. Stupid Alex, why did he have to ruin the good mood I was in? I don't even know why I was angry at him, just his stupid questioning and presumptions and shit…

I unplugged my iPod dock and picked up the eggs to take back upstairs to the fridge. My hair was probably stuck to my face now but I couldn't care less.

Once I reached the kitchen I put the eggs back in the fridge and took a gulp of cold water, heading back upstairs to take a shower.

I went back to my room after my shower, beginning to put some of my clothes into the drawers and onto hangers.

Gerard came to my room just as I finished putting my clothes away, his keys in his hand.

"You ready to go?" he asked me. I smiled at him.

"Sure am," I replied.

I fixed my hair in the mirror then walked downstairs, putting my wallet and phone into the little leather bag that was slung across my body.

"I'm going to show Cara around town then take her to rehearsal," Gerard said to Lindsey, giving her a kiss, "We'll be back this afternoon."

"Okay, have a good day. I'll see you later," she replied, giving me a hug goodbye.

Gerard and I headed out to a smallish silver sedan that was parked behind Lindsey's black SUV. He pulled out of the driveway and headed down the end of the street.

As we drove past streets, Gerard pointed out landmarks and other stuff, like Frank's house in case I ever wanted to run away and the Italian gelato place that he promised to take me to when he finished at rehearsal.

He finally pulled up in the main street, which contained a small shopping centre and a strip of other shops.

"Where would you like to go first?" he asked me.

I looked around, trying to decide where to go first.

"Um, Hot Topic maybe?" I suggested.

We walked inside and I was immediately met with heaven. There were so many things I wanted to buy.

"Alright, go crazy and tell me when you're finished," he said, looking at a rack of black skinny jeans.

I went crazy. T-shirts, singlets, jeans, shorts, you name it I picked it up.

By the time I walked back to Gerard, I could barely see him for the pile of clothes I had.

He didn't say anything about my excessiveness; he just laughed and put it all on his credit card.

We went to some other stores in the strip before hitting the centre for lunch. After that we headed back to the car and Gerard drove to rehearsal.

On the drive over I started to grow anxious. I already knew Frank liked me, but what if Mikey and Ray didn't?

The further we drove, the more nervous I grew, to the point of looking pale, feeling nauseous and visibly shaking by the time we pulled up at the rehearsal studio.

"Cara, you okay? You don't look too good," Gerard commented, looking worried.

I nodded my head. "Yeah, I'm all good, just a little nervous." Understatement of the year.

Gerard put his hand on my arm comfortingly. "You have nothing to worry about, anyone of them say anything about you I'll tear 'em a new one then we split, okay? I'll buy you the biggest gelato if you make it through the whole rehearsal without throwing up; you're looking a little green."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to steady myself. "I'm ready."

We got out of the car at the same time and I walked shakily to the door, my legs threatening to give out.

Gerard opened the door for me and motioned for me to go inside, closing the door as he walked in after me.

I followed the sounds of guitars being tuned and the tap of a snare drum. It led me to a room where I saw Frank, Mikey, Ray and an unfamiliar drummer tuning their instruments and joking around quietly.

They all turned and looked to us as we entered the room, a grin appearing on Frank's face.

"Hey there Cara, how's it going?" he asked me cheekily.

"Oh, you know, same old moving town bullshit, happens every other month," I smirk at him.

"Except this time you're going to behave and stay in the one place, right?" Gerard warned me.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, initiating a bout of laughter from the boys. "Yes, _dad_," I replied sarcastically.

They all laughed again and I felt a little more at ease.

"So who might you be? I didn't quite catch your name," Mikey asked me.

"I'm Cara, I just moved in yesterday," I replied.

"Cara? As in Vivianne's Cara? As in…" he trailed off.

"Your niece?" I finished for him.

His face lit up in a big smile as he pulled me into a hug. "It's so good to meet you and finally put a face to the name!"

Ray walked over and gave me a hug as well. I felt more relaxed now and I took a seat on a chair situated in the corner while Gerard started setting up his microphone.

I sat back and listened to them playing, singing along in parts and even jumping up and head banging with Gerard in guitar solos.

At the end of their rehearsal they were all sitting down and started packing up their instruments.

"Cara, you play?" Frank asked me, holding up his guitar.

"Yeah, I play a little and sing a little too," I replied.

Frank walked over and handed me his guitar. "Show us what you got."

I gulped, nervous now. I stood up and slung the strap over my body, standing in front of the microphone. I strummed out the opening chords of 'Amelia' by Tonight Alive.

_I think about you every single day  
And every time I see your face  
I wake and it brings me to tears  
We hadn't spoken in years  
We were close when we were young and naive  
We grew up and we learned other things  
You'll always be sweet 16_

And you will always be perfect  
You'll always be beautiful  
Our hearts will never forget you  
You didn't belong here  
And it's become so clear  
Why heaven called your name

I miss you and it still feels like I know you  
I've got pictures of us side by side to show you  
But it feels like I owe you so much more

And you will always be perfect  
You'll always be beautiful  
Our hearts will never forget you  
You didn't belong here  
And it's become so clear  
Why heaven called your name  
And it just doesn't seem right, was it really your time?  
Are we dreaming?  
We'll never let go of you  
Wish you were here but it's becoming clear  
That Earth's just not the place for an angel like you  
For an angel like you

You meant so much to so many  
I'm not quite sure how to do justice to you  
If they're ready to say goodbye  
I know I'm not

You made the news and the papers for days and days  
But it hardly seems fair  
The whole world should know your name  
I want them to know your name

And you will always be perfect  
You'll always be beautiful  
Our hearts will never forget you  
You didn't belong here  
And it's become so clear  
Why heaven called your name  
And it just doesn't seem right, was it really your time?  
Are we dreaming?  
We'll never let go of you  
Wish you were here but it's becoming clear  
That Earth's just not the place for an angel like you

And now we must let you move forward  
Our love lies with you  
Our souls fly with you  
Amelia

I looked back up and saw them all looking at me in awe.

"You're gonna go far, kid," Frank commented, breaking the silence. I blushed and looked down in response.

Gerard looked at the clock on the wall. "Shit, Cara, we'd better go, I told Linds we'd be back this afternoon and it's already 3:30," he said, gathering his things.

I took the guitar off and gave it back to Frank. He accepted it and pulled the cord out of it, packing it away.

Gerard and I said our goodbyes to everyone and headed back out to the car.

We drove to the gelato shop and went inside to choose our flavours. I decided on hazelnut while Gerard went with coffee flavour.

As promised, Gerard bought me the biggest size gelato. I ate the entire thing, it was so amazing. It had a softer and creamier texture than regular ice cream.

After we had both finished we returned home where we found Lindsey lying on the couch with her eyes closed and her face a little green. She had obviously been preparing something and suddenly felt sick because there were ingredients sitting on the kitchen counter, a partly cut chicken breast sitting on the chopping board.

I went over to the chicken and smelt it, making sure it didn't smell off. It smelt and looked perfectly fine.

Gerard walked over and sat next to Lindsey, pushing her hair back off her forehead, which was beginning to stick to the beads of sweat that had appeared.

"Nausea again?" Gerard asked her and she nodded slightly. "Want me to take you to bed?" She nodded again.

Gerard picked her up and carried her to the bedroom while I continued dicing the chicken as she had started.

Once Lindsey was in bed, Gerard joined me in the kitchen, beginning to cut the vegetables that were sitting out on the counter. He turned the radio on to a little rock station and we worked quietly together, occasionally singing along to songs.

We managed to finish dinner just as Lindsey came back downstairs, still looking pale but not green anymore.

We served up and ate dinner in the dining room, quietly watching the evening news.

We ended the night quietly, watching TV until we all managed to fall asleep.

When I woke up the next morning, Lindsey and Gerard were talking quietly. My neck and back were stiff, so I stretched out, hearing the satisfying cracking sounds.

"Good morning Cara," Lindsey said brightly, turning to me after she heard the cracking noises my back was making.

"Good morning Lindsey," I mumbled, feeling groggy from my full night of sleep.

"We have something important to do today," Gerard announced. I froze mid-stretch. If it was what I thought it was going to be…

"We're going to enrol you at Belleville High School!" Lindsey announced brightly.

I groaned. Great. School.

**Sorry this was a shorter one, just a bit of a filler before I get into the school stuff!**


	3. No More Pretentious Assholes

I woke up the next morning, feeling a pit of dread growing in my stomach. I groaned and rolled over, pulling my pillow over my head. I didn't want to go to school.

Lindsey peeked her head in my door, checking if I was awake.

"Cara? Time to get up and get ready for school," she said softly. I groaned again.

"I feel sick, I can't go," I lied, groaning again for effect.

Lindsey came and sat on the bed next to me, looking worried.

"Really? Maybe you should stay home then, I'll bring you a cup of tea," Lindsey said, standing up to go downstairs. I snuggled back into my warm bed, pleased with my efforts.

Gerard chose that moment to walk in my door.

"What's up?" he asked Lindsey.

"Cara's not feeling well today so I'm going to bring her a cup of tea and let her get some sleep."

He chuckled. "Linds, don't fall for it. I know every trick in the book, believe me, I wrote the goddamn book."

I groaned again and pushed my covers back, getting out of bed in defeat.

"Fine, I'm getting up."

Gerard laughed. "Love you Cara."

"Hate you."

I got dressed as slowly as possible, wanting to take as much time as possible so that I would be late. I carefully curled my lilac hair to create spiral curls that fell just below my waist. I made sure to put all of my black rings and studs in my piercings, attempting to get myself kicked out as soon as possible. I chose a pair of super skinny pale blue jeans and a floral singlet that I bought the other day, pairing them with my worn black converse. I used liquid eyeliner to create dramatic wings on my eyes with pale foundation.

I trudged downstairs where Lindsey was making crepes with banana and Nutella for breakfast. I made myself a coffee and sculled it, pouring myself another one before sitting down at the table.

Gerard was sitting at the table with a coffee and the newspaper, his brow furrowed in concentration. I took the opportunity to really study him. We were so much alike, I didn't know how I couldn't see it before. I had his high cheekbones, his hazel eyes and even his jaw structure.

Lindsey put a plate of crepes in front of me and I ate them quickly, heading back upstairs to get my backpack, full of brand new exercise books.

When I went back downstairs, Gerard was waiting for me by the door with his keys in his hand. I sighed as I walked outside and to the car.

We drove to the school in silence, except for the radio playing quietly in the car. This was another reason why I got myself into so much trouble at school, I hated it.

We arrived at Belleville High School to find the entire front building covered in spray painted names and slurs.

"Hasn't changed a bit," Gerard mused. I just rolled my eyes and got out of the car with him.

As we walked through the throngs of teenagers to the front office, I could hear whispers and feel stares on the back of my head, people scrutinising me and Gerard. There were whispers of excitement and whispers of scorn.

We arrived at the front office to see an older lady sitting behind a bulletproof screen. My heart rate spiked. Was this school for real?

She looked up when we approached the screen and gave us a wary look.

"How may I help you?" she asked, slightly intimidated.

"I enrolled my daughter Cara here yesterday," Gerard started.

"Ah yes! We have some forms we need you to sign and then we can get Cara started on her class selections then you'll be ready to go," she said, standing up to go to a separate window, "Just put your bag on the conveyor and step through the frame.

Okay, now this was fucked up. This hag wanted me to have my bag x-rayed and walk through a metal detector.

Gerard nudged me. "Everyone has to do it for safety precautions. We're not the only school that has once. Haven't you ever been through one of these before at school?"

I shook my head. "Private schools, remember? Everyone paid too much for their education to even be able to afford a gun."

Gerard laughed at that as he walked through it without any hassle. Of course, it was a completely different situation for me. The beeping noises filled the corridor and the other students standing there gawked at me as I blushed. What a way to be introduced.

The hag started to say something into a walkie talkie, until a young girl stepped in.

"It's okay Mrs Rooney, her piercings make the sensors go off. She's too clean looking to be holding anything else," the girl explained before turning to smile at me. She had both sides of her nose pierced, snake bites, tongue, eyebrow and a trail of piercings in each ear. I smiled back at her, grateful for her understanding.

"Thank you, Kate, we understand that," Mrs Rooney said to her.

"No problem Mrs Rooney. Would you like me to stay behind her show her around when she's finished choosing her classes?" Kate asked, layering on the sweetness.

"Why thank you, Kate, that would be very helpful for Cara."

I picked up my backpack from the end of the conveyor belt, the contents declared safe.

Mrs Rooney ushered me into a room adjacent to the office and sat me down at a small table and placed a form in front of me.

"These are your class choices, the ones in red are the classes that are full already so you'll need to pick from the ones in black."

I scanned through my choices, not liking most of them. They were all boring things like Business, Economics, Legal Studies and Modern History. I finally settled on Advanced English, Standard Math, Biology, Music and Italian, giving me a study period each day.

I went back out to where Gerard and Kate were both waiting for me; Gerard to say goodbye and Kate to say hello.

"Alright, you're all set to start, here's your schedule and we hope you fit in," Mrs Rooney said, dismissing us as she turned back to her paperwork.

Gerard spoke first. "Have a good first day, try not to start any shit, smoke in class, vandalise shit or set shit on fire. I probably won't be able to tolerate it as well as your mother did. What time will I need to pick you up?"

Kate cut in before I could reply. "Oh it's okay, Mr Way, I can take Cara home after school, I have my licence," she said, smiling widely, still layering on the sweet.

"Oh, okay, that would be great, thank you Kate. I'll see you this afternoon, Cara," Gerard replied, giving me a hug and a kiss on the top of the head.

"Okay, see you later Gerard," I said, still unable to call him dad.

He turned and walked out the doors and back to his car.

"So you live with Gerard Way? That's pretty awesome," Kate said as I turned to her.

"I still can't get over it," I said truthfully.

"Wait, what do you mean? How long have you lived with him?" she asked me.

"Only a few days, I only found out he was my dad when I got here," I explained.

"Holy shit, he's your dad?" she exclaimed, a little too loudly for my liking. I clapped my hand over her mouth.

"Shh! I don't exactly want everyone to know, let's just keep this between you and me for now," I said, looking into her eyes. She nodded, unable to speak from my hand over her mouth.

"Alright, let's show you around and get you some new friends," Kate said once I removed my hand.

We walked through the corridor as people shoved us in a hurry to get to classes or just to spite us. Kate rolled her eyes.

"At Belleville High, you're either cool or you're not. And by associating with me, you're immediately put in the uncool category. Sorry if I dashed your hopes at being a popular," she said, with a smirk. I grinned at her.

"I'm used to being different from everyone else. Private schools have taught me to cop everyone's bullshit. Although at private schools there's me and then there's people with logs up their asses."

Kate laughed along with me as we reached a table of people with crazy coloured hair and plenty of piercings.

"Look alive sunshines, this here is Cara, she's new. She joins us from…" Kate hesitated, waiting for me to fill in the blank.

"I don't even fuckin' know, everywhere," I replied honestly.

"Cara from everywhere. Play nice and don't bite. Hard," Kate tacked on the end.

A boy with straight brown hair and snake bites approached me. "Hey, I'm Dean," he introduced himself.

"Hey," I responded.

"So what class do you have first?" he asked me. I looked down at the schedule I held in my hand.

"Uhh, Biology," I answered, not really looking forward to it. Biology was one of my weakest subjects, why the hell did I pick it?

"Oh damn, none of us do Biology," Dean said pitifully and I suddenly felt scared. Who was I going to have sit next to me in classes? I started feeling anxious.

"Oh wait, Laura does Biology, you can hang with her," he corrected himself and I felt relieved. Even though I had no idea who Laura was, at least there'd be someone in the group for me to sit with.

"Okay, so which one's Laura?" I said, turning back to my new group of friends. I scanned through the girls, hoping it wasn't the stick-thin, scary-looking punk with metal coming out of every crevice.

"That one," Dean said, pointing to the one I feared, "Don't worry, she only looks like that, really she's a softie."

Laura looked in our direction, staring daggers at me. I gulped.

"Why is she looking at me like that?" I asked Dean fearfully.

"That's just her face; it's usually just to ward off the preps, it'll change if you go talk to her."

Shaking, I approached the scary looking girl.

"Hey, I'm Cara. Dean said we have Biology together?" I said it as more of a question than a statement. Her face remained unchanged, still death-glaring. She looked away with the same glare on her face, not saying anything.

The bell rang, signalling that we were to go to our first period classroom. Laura stood up wordlessly and walked away, the scowl still on her face. I quickly followed suit, waving goodbye to Kate and Dean.

She walked into a small classroom and sat down in the seat in the back corner. I sat in the seat next to her, my heart rate high.

I looked at her and she looked back. The fear was evident in my eyes. She cracked and busted up laughing.

"I'm sorry, that was just so much fun to do!" she exclaimed, still laughing. I sunk down in my seat in relief.

"Thank god, I was genuinely scared for a moment there," I breathed out.

"Kate texted me saying she was bringing a new girl to the group and I couldn't resist scaring you," Laura explained. She pulled out her books and pens, and I couldn't help but notice that she had a My Chemical Romance binder and coverings on her books.

"Hey, I like your binder and books," I said.

"Thanks, I take it you're a fan?" she asked me.

"You have no idea," I muttered.

The teacher walked in at that moment and the rest of the class was instantly quiet and sat up ramrod straight, Laura included. I sat with my back slouched as usual, not caring what would happen.

The teacher's eyes darted to me immediately, as did everyone else in the class. Laura gave me a sharp jab to the ribs with her elbow and when I looked to her she motioned for me to sit up straight. I ignored it.

The teacher slowly made his way down the aisle to my seat and stood staring at me for a minute with his eyebrow cocked.

"Excuse me, but we have a rule in this classroom," the dick said to me in a stern voice.

"Please inform me of this rule, I have not been in this class before so I wouldn't have a clue," I replied sweetly.

"First off, no slouching, secondly, no backchatting. You just earned yourself an after school detention as well," he said, turning his back to me and walking back down the front of the classroom.

He began the lesson, going on about killer T-cells and memory cells, stuff that I'd had more hands-on practice with at my other schools.

Finally, the bell rang. As I passed his desk, the teacher handed me a slip of paper. It was a detention notice.

"4:30 this afternoon, don't be late," was all he said. I slumped my shoulders in defeat as he swivelled to me again.

"Up straight!" he barked at me. I gave a mock-salute as I left the room.

Laura waited for me outside, walking me to my next class which was English.

"Man, is that guy always such a dick?" I asked her.

"He hasn't always been, only really started when his wife divorced him around a year ago, he's turned into the biggest prick since then," Laura complained.

We arrived at a larger classroom where I saw Kate and Dean sitting with a seat spare between them.

"Here's your classroom and there's your seat," Laura said, pointing to the empty seat and walking to her own class.

I sauntered into the room and sat in the spare seat. Kate and Dean looked at me expectantly.

"Well, I got a detention within the first five minutes of my first class," I started. Kate groaned and sunk in her seat. Dean put his head in his hands.

"Jesus Cara, what are we going to do with you?" he groaned.

"More like what is your dad going to do? He told you not to start shit just before he left," Kate said, giving me a look.

I shrugged my shoulders cheekily in reply. "What can I say; I have a reputation to uphold!"

"Well, I have to be home after school to look after my brother, so you're on your own getting home," she said sympathetically. I sighed. I was going to have to call Gerard to pick me up.

"Fine, I'll call him," I said, pulling my cell phone out of my bag. I hit the three on my speed dial, Gerard's assigned number.

"What did you do now Cara?" Gerard answered.

"My teacher decided that I wasn't sitting up straight enough so I asked him what the rule was and then he gave me a detention. It's at 4:30 this afternoon so I guess it would end around 5:00," I said, layering my charm on.

Gerard sighed in frustration. "Fine, I'll pick you up then. Just don't get another one today or I'll kill you," he said, exasperated.

"Thank you! See you later Gee," I hung up.

Dean was looking at me funnily as I hung up, so I looked back at him the same way.

"What?"

"You call your dad 'Gee'? Shouldn't you call him 'dad' or something?" Dean questioned.

"I've only known him for four days, I can't quite get my head around the whole concept of having a dad," I replied, slightly cynically.

"Yeah, when you meet her dad you can kind of get why-" I cut Kate off by clapping my hand over her mouth, which she proceeded to lick.

"Why? Who's your dad?" Dean asked, curious now. I opened my mouth to lie, but was cut off by the teacher coming in the room.

The class it kind of boring, but much better than Biology. They were studying Shakespeare's "As You Like It", a play which I had never heard of before.

The bell rang again and we packed up quickly, eager for a break.

I followed Kate and Dean into the cafeteria and found a seat at their table. Several of the others were eating macaroni and cheese that looked like it had been regurgitated and a few others had mystery meat, or prostitute as I often called it. I pulled an apple from my pre-packed lunch, mentally reminding myself to thank Lindsey once I got home.

They were discussing something that was happening soon, so I listened in and caught the tail end of a sentence.

"- If their World Contamination tour was awesome, then this will be amazing. Are you coming, Cara?"

I looked up, trying to look like I hadn't been listening in to their conversation.

"What am I going to?" I asked.

"My Chemical Romance are doing a small tour next month and they're playing here, you in?" Laura asked me.

I was so used to having to turn it down or say that I'd ask, because my mom would never let me go. But it was different this time; I knew I'd be allowed to go because, well, they were my family.

"Yeah definitely, I'm in," I said, glad that I could actually say this now.

Kate smiled a knowing smile at me and I slyly winked back at her. They continued their conversation about their love for my dad's band until the end of the break, all of us going our separate ways for our next two classes, mine being math and Italian.

Maths was boring, the same as all math classes were at any school I'd been to. I didn't have any friends in that class or in Italian. There weren't many people in my Italian class, all the people in it were split between people that were serious about it or picked it because they had no other choice. I was in the latter group at the beginning of the lesson, but started to go towards the first by the end after discovering I had a knack for picking up the language.

After writing out a thousand sentences to translate for homework, the bell rang for lunch and I packed up quickly, eager to be around friends again.

I took a seat next to Laura and Kate, both of them welcoming me.

"So Cara, what were your old schools like? They must have been pretty horrible for you to end up here," a boy named Sam started.

"Well, they were all private schools; this is the first public school I've been to," I started, interrupted by an exclamation from Laura.

"Shit! How did you survive?" she asked me.

"I didn't, I would be kicked out from anywhere between a week and a month, I was too 'hardcore' for private schools," I said, putting airquotes around the word.

"Damn straight you are," Kate muttered, shoving a spoonful of yoghurt in her mouth.

"Yeah, maybe even too much for school in general. I've never heard of someone who gets a detention in their first ever class," Laura said.

"My mom never used to care, just as long as there was somewhere else to go. But I'm trying to change because if I get kicked out of all the schools around here then I'm screwed because Gee won't move," I said.

"Who's Gee?" Sam asked.

"My dad. I call him Gee 'cause I don't know him well enough to call him dad yet," I said, hoping they'd drop the whole dad issue, which they did.

"So why did you get kicked out of everywhere you went?" Laura asked me.

"Just generally misbehaving: smoking, skipping classes, vandalism, that kind of stuff," I explained, shrugging it off. No-one spoke for a minute. "What?"

"Man if only those private school bitches came here. That stuff is a regular occurrence here at Belleville High," Dean said. I smirked.

"Good, 'cause I'm just warming up," I said, regaining my confident, rebellious stride.

We spent the rest of lunch talking about random things like where I lived, the My Chemical Romance concert and classes until the bell rang. My schedule said I had a free period with Dean so dumped our bags in our lockers and snuck out to the parking lot for a smoke and a hang out.

Admittedly, I was a little worried about what would happen if the teachers came out and caught us because I didn't want to disappoint Gerard, but Dean reassured me that the teachers wouldn't catch us and if they did they'd only ask for a light and join us.

"There's actually a pretty good teacher/student relationship here," Dean said, pulling us each out a cigarette from his packet and lighting them, handing one to me, "They know that most of the students here smoke and they smoke themselves, the only thing they'd do would reprimand us for being in the parking lot during school hours and it's just like a smack on the wrist kind of thing, nothing serious. I've smoked with a couple of teachers before, heck; I shared a joint with one last year."

My eyes went wide at the thought and Dean chuckled at my expression, blowing the smoke out his mouth in a long stream. I wouldn't admit it but he actually looked sexy when he did that.

"She's a Biology teacher, naturally, she's high about 99% of the time, makes for an interesting class," Dean explained.

We sat in silence for the next few minutes, finishing off our cigarettes. Once I stubbed out the butt I lay down on the tarmac and put my arms behind my head and closed my eyes, revelling in the peace. I put all my thoughts out of my head and felt myself beginning to fall asleep, so I jolted my eyes open and turned to look at Dean.

He was mimicking what I was doing before, a serene look over his face as his mind wandered. Never before in my life had I had the urge to lean over and kiss someone. The look on his face was so peaceful and he looked completely angelic.

As if he knew what I was thinking, his eyes snapped open and without sitting up he reached into his pockets for his Marlboro's and pulled another one out for himself, offering the packet to me. I took one graciously and laid back down, putting the unlit cigarette in my mouth.

Dean lit his cigarette and I expected him to hand me the lighter but what he did was totally unexpected. He sat up and leaned over me, bringing his face closer to mine as his lit cigarette came into contact with my unlit one, effectively lighting it. I closed my eyes again, inhaling and exhaling the smoke.

I opened my eyes again and noticed that Dean was still hovering over me, the veins on his forearms straining from his weight.

I took the cigarette out of my mouth and away from my body as he leaned down further and pressed his lips to mine; letting me taste the smoke on his mouth.

As soon as his mouth left mine, I inhaled my smoke and pulled his head down to mine, transferring the smoke to his mouth.

He exhaled my smoke and smirked, lying back down by my side as we finished our smokes again in peace.

The bell rang shortly after and Dean scrambled to his feet, offering a hand out to help me off the ground. Once vertical, I brushed myself off and we headed back into the school grounds, the taste of smoke in our mouths and Dean's phone number in my cell.

I arrived in music with Dean to find a group of kids sitting in a circle with different guitars: bass, electric and acoustic. They were all strumming along, creating the most melodic tune I'd ever heard. There was a guy testing out the drum kit while a few blonde girls strolled in the room, practicing some riffs.

I chose myself an electric guitar and tuned it, before ripping out into 'The Downfall of Us All' by A Day To Remember. A couple of the guys on electric, the bassist and the drummer joined in and Dean hooked a microphone up to the amps and pounded out the vocals.

The teacher came into the room as we were playing but didn't interrupt us. I stood up and joined Dean at the microphone, screaming the lyrics until the end of the song, the entire class finishing off.

"This town will be the downfall of us all!" we cried.

The teacher let out a round of applause. "It seems we have some new talent in the class. I'm Mr Paynter, but you can just call me Doug like the rest of the kids do," he introduced himself.

"Cara Hanson," I said.

"Cara. You got any musical talent in your family?" he asked me. Shit. It would be tricky dodging around this one.

"Yeah, my dad is a singer and my uncle and step-mom are both bassists," I replied, leaving it there and hoping he wouldn't continue with the exposure of my family. I wasn't as lucky as I was at lunch.

"Oh really? Anyone we'd know? New Jersey is pretty famous for it's punk groups, I'm sure we've heard of them," he said, gathering the rest of the classes attention. I gulped nervously.

"Um, nah, you probably haven't heard of them, they just play for fun," I lied, dodging the question skilfully. I sighed internally as he turned his attention from me to the rest of the class.

Music was probably the most fun class I'd had all day, Doug had a relaxed teaching style and the entire class worked together on songs, putting in their own harmonies at times and making everything sound great. I was infact a little sad to hear the bell ring, especially since I now had detention with that cranky old fart.

I dragged my feet along to his classroom, where several other students were seated and scowling. I took a seat up the back and slung my bag on the desk as the prick of a teacher entered the room.

"I'm sure you've all got homework to do, so make a start on it. If not, sit in silence." With that, he sat at his seat and pulled out a bunch of papers and a red pen.

I sighed as I pulled out my Italian book and opened to the sentences I was supposed to translate. _Ho mangiato un panino._ Seriously, how was I supposed to pass exams when all I was learning to say was 'I ate a sandwich'.

By the time the half hour had finished, I had completed half of the sentences.

"Okay, hurry up and get out of here before I lock you in," he grumbled, tucking the papers back into his bag.

I shot up from my seat and almost ran to the parking lot, which was now teeming with rain.

I scanned the lot for Gerard's car, but there was no sign of the silver sedan anywhere, so I looked around for Lindsey's black car but it wasn't there either.

There wasn't any undercover area to wait, so I stood in the rain for fifteen minutes, my clothing saturated and my hair plastered to my skull in limp strands.

I pulled out my phone and tried to protect it from the rain. I had a text message from Gerard. I groaned, already knowing what it was.

_Cara,  
Forgot to mention I rehearsal this afternoon, won't be able to pick you up, sorry  
Dad xx_

I groaned again, due to the fact that I now had no way home because Kate was babysitting and Dean…

I whipped out my cell phone again and punched in a contact, pressing the phone to my ear.

"_Hello?"_

"Hey Dean, could you do me a huge favour?"


End file.
